The Best Car Finance Blog In The World

I was sitting outside a dealership a few days ago and saw something happening that I felt I should bring to your attention. I’ve raised this before and told the full story in my book, An Insider Guide To Car Finance. In my book I explain that a friend of mine was working in the reception of a very large main dealer and told me about a practice that she had part witnessed and been told about by staff that absolutely amazed me. In her dealership they were Read more »

The test of a finance arrangement isn’t so much the cost or the APR but in the current climate, what happens when things go wrong. Most of my readers know my views on the heavy promotion of personal loans rather than dealer HP but another issue was mentioned to me this week that again shows why HP is far more beneficial than a personal loan. When you take out dealer HP it is what is known as a Read more »

Which car holds its price best? I would have said Mini as it has held the title for some time but a few surprises have taken over, possibly as a result of high demand for smaller cars and fewer cars available in the used car market as a result of the scrappage scheme. The best performer, according to Glass’s Guide, over 3 years has been the Peugeot 107 which has retained 60.9% of its value. This has been followed by the Toyota Aygo (60.2%) and the Suzuki Swift (59.5%). My flabber has never been so gasted! By Graham Hill

Thinking of selling your car and taking out a lease on a new car? Well, according to Manheim, the car auction house, now is a good time for you to sell you car as used car prices have been shooting up recently. An 8 month old ex rental car with less than 8,000 miles on is now fetching £2,200 more than it was a year ago. Manheim auctions increased their average sale price by 4% in July over June whilst British Car Auctions saw a 3% increase. Year on year prices are up by Read more »

Thinking of taking a used car next time? Over 8 million drivers do each year. The reasons for moving from a new car to a used car vary, maybe you’ve lost your company car through redundancy or a cash for car scheme or maybe you have seen the low prices that 2 and 3 year old cars have fallen to and would look to save some money, but after a friend of mine lost his Renault Megane for nearly two days in order to have his clutch replaced it reminded me that we are living in a throwaway society. Things don’t Read more »

Now here’s a strange fact! When it comes to new cars the most popular colour constantly flips between black and silver with, strangely enough, white coming up on the inside rails. Who ever thought that white would ever make a return as one of the most popular colours for new cars, what next – chocolate brown or possibly beige? Anyway, for years the most popular colour for used cars has apparently been blue, replaced in the first quarter of this year, according to Manheim auctions, by Read more »

Last week I attended Motor Finance Europe 2009, one of the most important events of the year with regard to identifying how the European motor industry and the finance sector in particular is coping with the downturn. So I packed a couple of bottles of Paracetamol in the briefcase along with a couple of razor blades as I was totally convinced that by lunchtime I would be feeling more than a little suicidal and Read more »

They say ‘it’ sends you blind – whatever ‘it’ is. But whatever ‘it’ is it seems to affect middle aged drivers as one in five drive their cars knowing that their eyesight is impaired according to the College of Optometrists. The study also revealed that 28% of these blind old duffers put off having a sight test for up to 6 months after noticing their eyesight had deteriorated and a startling 21% put it off for up to 5 years, probably because they can’t find their local Specsavers. ‘This attitude is extremely worrying’ said Dr Susan Blakeney, optometric adviser to the College of Optometrists. I agree. By Graham Hill

Trying to get more drivers off the roads and onto public transport won’t work if we continue to be charged ridiculous fares on the trains. A recent study revealed that UK rail travellers pay more than anywhere else in Europe. I bought a return ticket to London today and it cost just under £40 to take a round trip of about 70 miles, it’s ridiculous. By Graham Hill

Calls for a total mobile phone ban have come from safety experts following a landmark case. Lynne-Marie Howden, a director and head of sales at business consultancy Insights was found not guilty of causing death by dangerous driving. But she was found guilty of the lesser charge of careless driving which resulted in a 12 month ban and a fine of £2,000. Ms Howden was talking on her hands free phone to a works Read more »